NPC urges UNHRC to refer SL State to an international judicial mechanism

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 28 February 2018, 14:01 GMT]
The Northern Provincial Council passed a resolution on Tuesday urging the UN Human Rights Council to refer the SL State, which has not only failed in implementing the UNHRC resolution but also gone on record opposing to comply with it, to an international judicial mechanism headed by the UN. The resolution also urged that the IC, especially the USA which co-sponsored the UNHRC resolution, the European Union and India to mediate a political solution between the Tamil nation and the Sri Lankan State.
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SL Police take sides, Sinhala tipper drivers causing fatal accidents escape legal action

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 27 February 2018, 21:17 GMT]
The police of occupying Colombo is protecting the Sinhala vehicle owners and drivers of the tipper vehicles that are involved in fatal accidents in Batticaloa district, legal sources representing the victim families, said observing a pattern involving several accidents in the East. A speeding tipper vehicle, which was transporting sand from Batticaloa to Polonnaruwa claimed the life of a 26-year-old Tamil man in the early hours of 25 February. Another victim sustained severe injuries. But, the Sinhala driver hailing from SL President's home district of Polonnaruwa has managed to evade legal action with the help of the police of the occupying unitary State. Another similar accident claimed the life of a 62-year-old former Village Officer at Kathira-ve'li on the following day.
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SL President failed to satisfy his promises: families of enforced disappeared in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 26 February 2018, 13:07 GMT]
The President of genocidal Sri Lanka is trying to escape from his promises on tracing what had happened to those subjected to enforced disappearance by the armed forces under him. Mr Maithiripala Sirisena is now explaining that the crimes took place under Mahinda Rajapaksa and that he is not answerable. “As far as the families of enforced disappeared are concerned the culture of impunity continues as long as there is a Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, unwilling to trace the records of the military under him,” said Mrs Amalanayaki Amalraj, the coordinator of Batticaloa district families of persons subjected to enforced disappearances.
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300 days and counting: uprooted people of Ira'naitheevu want IC to hear their plight

[TamilNet, Sunday, 25 February 2018, 18:03 GMT]
The elder generation of uprooted Eezham Tamils from the SL Navy occupied Ira'nai-theevu twin islets, which lie 12 nautical miles from the coast of the mainland in Mannaar facing the Palk Bay, have again vowed to intensify their protest through sacrificing their lives after placing their predicament on the shoulders of the international community. Their continuous protest completed 300 days on Sunday. The protesters blamed SL Resettlement Ministry for repeatedly deceiving them with promises of partial resettlement.
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Increasing reports of Sinhala colonists gunning down cattle belonging Tamil dairy farmers in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Saturday, 24 February 2018, 19:18 GMT]
Armed Sinhala colonisers have again stepped up the killing of cattle owned by Tamil dairy farmers in Koa'ra'laip-pattu South (Kiraan) division of Batticaloa district. The intruders have gunned down six cows and caused injuries to two since January 01 2018, the dairy farmers complain. Between 2013 and 2016, more than 1,000 cows, owned by Tamil dairy farmers were shot and killed. The process accelerated after Maithiripala Sirisena coming to power. However, due to relentless protests and complaints, the menace was temporarily halted from the end of 2016. Now, it has resumed in full force again, the farmers further said. The SL Police at Karadiyan-aa'ru doesn't act against the activities of illegal settlers but collaborate with SL Forest Department against the interests of Tamil dairy farmers.
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SL Navy prompts survey department to initiate police action against NPC Councillor Shivajilingam

[TamilNet, Friday, 23 February 2018, 18:54 GMT]
SL Survey Department officials complained to the SL Police in Mullaiththeevu police alleging NPC Provincial Councillor M.K. Shivajilingam had smashed the glasses of one of their vehicle that emerged out of the SLNS Gotabhaya naval base on Thursday when people from Vadduvaakal were protesting against the move to seize their 671 acres of lands permanently. The SL police were trying to use as much as possible legal clauses to harass the NPC Councillor and the former parliamentarian who stands up for the struggling people.
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Intense protest in Mullaiththeevu against SL Navy base blocks surveying for 3rd time

[TamilNet, Thursday, 22 February 2018, 21:05 GMT]
The people of Vadduvaakal staged an intensive protest for more than 6 hours in front of the so-called ‘SLNS Gotabhaya’ navy base in Mullaiththeevu on Thursday. The move came as the SL Survey Department officials were attempting to measure 671 acres of lands, which the SL Navy has seized from the public several years ago. The SL State was trying to legalise the illegal land grab through a Gazette notification in August 2017. The people accompanied by their politicians managed to stop the surveying for the 3rd time. They also burnt an effigy representing the so-called ‘good governance’ regime in Colombo in front of the SL navy base.
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Colombo barring Tamils from fishing along Adam's Bridge reef sparks protest

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 21 February 2018, 21:41 GMT]
More than one hundred Eezham Tamil families from Thalai-mannaar took to the streets on Monday protesting against the occupying SL Navy and SL Department of Wildlife for blocking them from fishing in their traditional territorial waters along Adam's Bridge reef and Thalai-mannaar. The SL Navy has forcefully chased away the fishermen on Sunday night and in the early hours of Monday stating that the SL Wildlife Department has barred fishing for the ‘protection’ of endangered birds. Occupying Colombo and its military are using ‘wildlife protection’ as a cover for militarisation, the fishermen questioned.
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Ki'linochchi protest demanding justice for enforced disappeared reaches 366th day

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 20 February 2018, 20:17 GMT]
Grassroots organisations from the North, solidarity groups from the South, politicians from various parties and representatives of the families of enforced disappeared in the eight districts of North-East joined hands with the continuous protesters in Ki'linochchi as their protest reached 366th day on Tuesday. Seven mothers have died searching for the loved ones while the UN Human Rights Council was giving time and space for the SL State to escape accountability, the protesters accused.
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SL military seizes northernmost point of Tamil country for Sinhalicisaton of tourism

[TamilNet, Monday, 19 February 2018, 16:07 GMT]
The occupying Sinhala military has transformed the northernmost point of the country of Eezham Tamils into a military-operated tourist attraction for Sinhala tourists from the South. It was also making a mockery of the ‘unity in diversity’ slogan while in practice demonstrating the attitude of transforming everything into ‘Sinhala uniformity’ across the island from the southernmost Dondra point in the Sinhala South to Chakkoadai cape in the Tamil North. The Chief Minister of Northern Provincial Council, Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, is currently having the responsibility of tourism ministry in the democratically elected Northern Provincial Council.
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Colombo's fake mangroves for export destroy fishing-ecosystem of Eezham Tamils in East

[TamilNet, Sunday, 18 February 2018, 18:42 GMT]
Occupying Colombo's “National Aquaculture Development Authority” (NAQDA) has deployed Sinhala-owned companies from South to engage in “fake mangrove” production along the northern coast of Batticaloa. The fake mangroves, made with cement blocks, are systematically sunk along the coast of Kaayaang-kea'ni affecting both the natural mangroves and the fishing environment of native Tamil fisherfolks, A.M. Anton, the chairperson of the fisheries association at Kaayaang-kea'ni told TamilNet this week. The fake stones are dug up after 6 to 8 months and exported to the USA before the next wave of artificial layer gets spread over the natural mangroves.
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SL port ‘development’ to cause hazardous conditions to Hartley, Methodist colleges

[TamilNet, Saturday, 17 February 2018, 15:06 GMT]
Occupying Colombo is bringing permanent disturbance to the peaceful environment needed for two of the prominent educational institutions of Eezham Tamils in Jaffna, the Hartley College and the Methodist Girl’s High School, situated in northernmost Point Pedro. The SL Port Authority (SLPA) which comes under the unitary State of genocidal Sri Lanka is seizing more lands to the west of the two educational institutions, which are already struggling to sustain a safe environment amidst militarised conditions.
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SL military enlists 50 Tamils for slave work in military-run farms in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Friday, 16 February 2018, 19:30 GMT]
The Jaffna commander of the occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka, Major General Dharshana Hettiarrachchi, on Thursday came with the false propaganda claiming that he was integrating fifty former LTTE members as a workforce in the armed forces of ‘Sri Lanka’. In reality, the SL military was employing the fifty Tamils for slave work in the military-run agriculture farms in the fertile lands, which it had seized from the uprooted people of Valikaamam North, informed sources in Jaffna said.
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Three Saiva temples vandalized in Mannaar

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 14 February 2018, 20:37 GMT]
Three Saiva temples have been vandalized in Mannaar following the civic elections and a day before the Saiva religious day of Maha Shivaratri. One of the places of worship, Lingkeasvarar temple, is located on the left side of Mannaar - Thalai-mannaar Road and is situated near the St.Xavier's Boys' College. The Lingkam statue at the temple was fully destroyed Tuesday night. The other two temples are located very close to two Sinhala military bases in the district. Although various suspicions are being raised, the residents are of opinion that the vandalization would not have been possible without the culprits having a close rapport with the occupying military establishment.
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SL court in Aralaganwila discriminates Tamil dairy farmers from Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 13 February 2018, 16:21 GMT]
The SL court in Aralaganwila, which comes under the Polonnaruwa district was addressing a case filed by the so-called Department of Wildlife Conservation of genocidal Sri Lanka against Tamil dairy farmers on 05 February. Eight Tamil farmers who took their cattle for grazing in Mayilaththamadu pasturelands in Batticaloa district complained to the SL Police at Karadiyanaa'ru on 30th January that their cattle were being targeted with animal traps. The Sinhala policemen instructed the Tamil farmers to remove the traps and promised to trace the culprits. Later on the same day guards from the SL Wildlife Department from Aralaganwila entered the huts of Tamil farmers in Batticaloa and charged the Tamil farmers for being in possession of animal traps.
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13 years elapsed, GTZ-initiated housing scheme yet to obtain roofs in Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Monday, 12 February 2018, 17:28 GMT]
Many of the 300 houses of a housing scheme, initiated 13 years ago by Germany's governmental organisation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), in Tsunami and war-affected Vaakarai in Koa'ra'laip-pattu North of Batticaloa district, are yet to obtain their roofs, windows and doors, complain the beneficiaries of the housing project. Some time back, the officials of the Divisional Secretariat were collecting 1,500 rupees from each family promising to complete the project with roofs. But, nothing has been delivered, the poverty-stricken families said.
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Occupying soldiers harass Tamil women in coastal village of Batticaloa

[TamilNet, Sunday, 11 February 2018, 22:35 GMT]
The Sinhala soldiers of the occupying military of genocidal Sri Lanka are harassing Tamil women in the coastal village of Thaazhang-kudaa, which is situated 14 km south of Batticaloa city, the residents complain. The SL military is further expanding its presence by extending its military base at Thaazhang-kudaa with additional 6 acres of public lands. In the meantime, the SL military intelligence is setting up several small huts within the expanded area of the camp, the residents further said.
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Champoor Tamils prepare to launch protest after civic elections

[TamilNet, Saturday, 10 February 2018, 14:08 GMT]
Grassroots organisations of the resettled people of Champoor have decided to launch a protest campaign after the civic elections are over, the representatives of the community organisations said. The occupying SL Navy has seized thousands of acres of agricultural lands. Similarly, the SL Board of Investment and the Ceylon Electricity Board are still engaged in fencing off lands that were seized earlier for the controversial coal power plant, which has been abandoned. But, the land-owners have not been provided alternative lands as promised by the SL authorities. In the meantime, Sinhala Buddhist extremist monks have been triggered by the SL military intelligence to occupy the worship sites of Eezham Tamils using the clauses of the SL constitution, which accords foremost place to Buddhism.
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Sirisena's deceptive election promise exposed in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Thursday, 08 February 2018, 15:21 GMT]
SL President Maithiripala Sirisena, during his latest propaganda trip to Jaffna on Monday, promised to open the coastal road that links Point Pedro in Vadamaraadchi North with Punnaalai in Valikaamam West for public use. In the meantime, ITAK Leader Mavai Senathirajah, who has deployed his son in the civic election race for Valikaamam North, was claiming that ITAK's 'collaborative politics' with Colombo was yielding results. But, within 2 days, the eyewash opening of the road for 'public use' was exposed as a farce as the people were refused access to use the road. The occupying Sinhala military has restricted the 'public use' to only allow SL State-owned bus service with military escort through the road on Tuesday.
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SL Forest Department grabs agricultural lands of 45 Tamil farmers in Madu

[TamilNet, Monday, 05 February 2018, 19:19 GMT]
Colombo-based SL Forest Department is blocking 45 Eezham Tamil families in Madu DS division of Mannaar district from accessing their own agricultural lands in extent of 175 acres at Chinnak-kungchuk-ku'lam, the villagers of Periya-kungchuk-ku'lam complain. All the land-owners are in possession of land deeds or LDO permits provided by the Assistant Government Agent of Madu. The families were owning the agricultural lands for more than 40 years. Due to the war and displacement, they were unable to engage in agriculture for almost 15 years and the SL Forest Department has put up border stones seizing their lands. The people having valid documents of ownership to their agricultural lands are being confronted by the guards of SL Forest Department, which disregards the rights of resettled Tamils. Some of their land deeds are from 1930s.
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Britain accountable for causing genocide through unitary discourse: Political Analyst

[TamilNet, Sunday, 04 February 2018, 22:40 GMT]
The two initial European powers to colonise the island, the Portuguese and the Dutch, only introduced some changes in the customary laws and religious practices. They didn't impose upon us any major political or economic change disturbing the parity that prevailed among the ethnic identities. It was the colonial British, since they seized the control of the island in 1796 and enforced a single administrative unit in 1833, who were behind the political reforms starting from Colebrooke-Cameron commission disturbing the parity between the ethnic identities in the island. The British were the ones who brought the constitutional discourse of unitary character and they should bear the responsibility for creating conditions for the annihilation of Tamils as a nation in the island, commented Jaffna based Tamil political analyst S.A. Jothilingam in an interview to TamilNet on Sunday.
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Tamils have no freedom in the island: Justice Wigneswaran

[TamilNet, Saturday, 03 February 2018, 23:47 GMT]
NPC Chief Minister Justice C.V. Wigneswaran, in his capacity as the co-chairman of Tamil Peoples’ Council, on Saturday explained in a moderately worded statement why Tamils are boycotting or abstaining from the so-called ‘Independence’ Day celebrations while genocidal Sri Lanka is marking 70 years since February 04, 1948 on Sunday. Justice Wigneswaran was still harping on the outdated paradigm of ‘devolution of power under a Federal constitution’ and was failing point out that the root cause to the conflict was the British-introduced constitutional discourse in the island, which was neglecting the parity of status to Eezham Tamils as a nation. However, he was bold enough to issue a statement noting “celebration of Independence from the Britishers has lost its significance due to our coming under the domination and hegemony of the Sinhalese,” while being the chief minister of the NPC.
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UNP wants to erect 1000 Sinhala-Buddhist temples in occupied Tamil country

[TamilNet, Friday, 02 February 2018, 22:42 GMT]
The UNP of the ruling Yahapalanaya alliance, particularly SL Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe, has recently gone on record vowing to erect 1,000 Buddhist temples in the occupied country of Eezham Tamils in the North-East of the island. The agenda is also mentioned in the manifesto of UNP in the run-up to the local elections. The UNP claims as it has managed to allocate 500 million rupees to the programme. The propaganda waged by the UNP and the SLFP in Vavuniyaa has been centred around the theme of SL State sponsorship to Sinhala-Buddhisication of Vavuniyaa and the North. The construction of 1,000 locations for Sinhalicisation in the North-East project is being termed as a ‘reconciliation project’.
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Bogollagama should be stripped of Governor portfolio based on PRECIFAC findings

[TamilNet, Thursday, 01 February 2018, 22:02 GMT]
Does the SL President Maithiripala Sirisena have the guts to remove the colonial Governor of Eastern Province, Chandrasekara Rohitha Bandara Bogollagama, from his position based on the findings of the Presidential Commission of Inquiry to investigate and inquire into Serious Acts of Fraud, Corruption and Abuse of Power, State Resources and Privileges (PRECIFAC), questioned Tamil legal activists from Trincomalee. “The question is whether those who are named by the commission be ever prosecuted in a Court of Law of genocidal Sri Lanka and whether those who are holding key positions under the SL State today step down until their cases are disposed of,” a veteran legal activist from Trincomalee commented.
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